Trachea connection



Aug.13,1946i. yO mEgERTs zos's TRACHEA coNNEcTIoN vFiled March 22,1945

FIG. l.

INVENTOR:

OTTIE ROBERTS Patented Aug. 13, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE'rancune ooNNEoTioN Ottie Roberts, East St. Louis, Ill. Y appiicatinMarch 22, 1945, serial No. '584,190

3 Claims.

This invention relates to trachea connections, and more particularly toimprovements in devices for this purpose which operate to effect asuitable air supply connection between a tracheal opening and the soundbox of an artiiicial larynx or the like,

Since the rst appearance of the various types and designs of artiiiciallarynges which have been available for a number of years to thoserequiring such instruments, considerable diniculty has been experiencedin effecting a practical and comfortable connection between a tracheaopening and the tube for supplying air therefrom, to an artificial voiceapparatus. The presentv invention has resulted from a number of years ofexperience of this applicant, as a user, designer and manufacturer ofequipment of this general type. The general betterment of and increaseof comfort to the user of such devices, constitute general objectives ofthe present invention.

Due to the fact of surgical removal of the larynx, or because of severeimpairment of the vocal chords in any manner necessitating the use ofartificial speech devices, it is usually necessary to terminate thetrachea or windpipe in an outside orice surgically formed in the lowerfrontal portion of the neck. It is to the purpose of providing asuitable, practical, air-tight and comfortable connection from suchtracheal orifice to an artificial larynx, that the current improvementsare directed.

It is frequently the case that a tracheal opening resulting from thecauses noted, is not of truly circular shaping; frequently also theyvary in size, and the neck contour of the patient or user of the devicemay vary considerably so as to necessitate, for best results, a highdegree of physical adaptability of the air tube connection to thevarying contours and shaping of neck, and the varying nature of trachealincisions in different individuals. This greater adaptability isobtained as an objective of the present improvements.

More particularly stated in reference to currently novel structure, theinvention has as an objective, to provide an easily conforming annularcushion in `combination with a cup-like trachea connection, and theattainment of a structure such that the resilient or cushion element ofthe device may be renewed from timey to time Without special skill,tools or equipment.

Yet another object of the invention is attained in a tracheal connectionsuch that the bell or cup thereof may be readily adapted, without anyspecial equipment, to surround comfortably certain irregularly shapedtracheal incisions and may thus be readily individualized orpersonalized to the user.

The foregoing and numerous other objects will more clearly appear as thedescription proceeds.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a trachea connection embodying the presentimprovements;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view along a longitudinal median plane,particularly as taken along line 2 2 of Fig. l, and illustrating theinternal arrangement of parts in assembly, and

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the bell andthe sleeve used to effect atube connection, shown in section, together with a resilient annulusused as a cushioning element, and threaded assembly means.

Referring now by characters of reference to n the drawing, an air supplytube l!) which may conveniently consist of a suitable high grade rubberor rubber-like material, serves in now well known manner, to direct theair supplied from the trachea opening, to the interior of a sound box crthe like, of an articial larynx, for example of a type such as shown inmy copending application of Serial No. 584,189, led March 22, 1945, andentitled Improvements in artificial larynx construction. As will bestappear from Fig. 2, a suitably tight and readily effected air supplyconnection consists of an integrally extended sleeve II, being part of acup-like or bellshape body generally indicated at l2. The connectingtube or sleeve Il is provided with an internal bore i3 of substantialsize, which is continued into a bore lil of even diameter with thebore'l. Beyond this, proceeding toward the air supply or connection endof the device, it will best appear from Fig. 3 that the bore ll issomewhat enlarged and is internally threaded as at l5 for a purposehereinafter better appearing.

Beyond the threaded bore l5 is the cup or bell structure which mayconsist of a molded thermoplastic element, including preferably in asingle piece, the parts ii and i2, this unit being molded or otherwiseformed so thatl the chamber within the bell is contoured to approximateclose ly the frustrum of a sphere approaching hemispherical proportions,thus resultingV in a relatively deeply cupped fitting,

It will now appear that, with a normally circular trachea opening, thedevice including merely a suitable tube connection and a bell portionsuch as I2, may be operatively employed of itself,

without other provisions, to complete the communication between tracheaand artificial larynx.

It is preferred to form the structures II-IE of some suitablethermoplastic material, preferably hard rubber of the grade usually soldas rod stock, and which in order to adapt the shaping of bell or cup I2to meet any unusual individual requirements, may be softened in warmwater, reshaped as needed, and upon recooling, will retain the desiredoval, oblong or otherY noncircularshape resulting from the softeningtreatment.

It is greatly preferred to employ in conjunction with the structure II-l2, a cushioning and air sealing device which, in a thoroughlypractical and extremely comfortable form, consists of a deepYwasher-like element originally in the form of element I1 (Fig. 3). Thisis cut or molded as an annulus having an initial axial opening I8 ofapproximately the diameter of the enlarged threaded bore I5, and furtherprovided with rounded margins such as indicated at 2G. The initial outerdiameter of the annulus l'I is by preference, appreciably greater thanthe largest diameter of the frusto-spherical bell or cup I6, for areason hereinafter better appearing.

As a preferred means for assembling the annulus I1 to the body andrepeated usage made of a tubular screw 2|. The'bore of screw 2| ispreferably, in assembly, a continuation of the bore i4 in element I2, aswill best appear from Fig. 2. The diameter of screw 2l is preferablyabout the same as, or slightly exceeds the diameter of the opening I8,and the threads 2I conform to the female threaded portion I5l of thebell I2. In conjunction with the tubular screw 2| there is preferablyemployed a thin metal washer 22 formed of a corrosionresisting metal ormaterial, or alternately surface treated as by plating or dipping, forthis purpose.

The assembly of parts will now have become obvious from the foregoingcomplete description of the several elements. The washer 22 is insertedover screw 2l and brought to abut the inside or under surface of thehead 23 of the screw. The screw 2I is then extended through the openingI8 of the annulus I1, and is threaded into the tapped socket or bore I5as firmly as conditions will permit.

'I'he washer I'I is by preference of a profusely internally cellularconstruction, and of rubber or a rubber-like materialy beingcharacterized by a very marked depthwise resilience and substantialstretch. Now as screw 2l is threaded up, the shape of the internalsurface of the bell or cup I6 will result in 4drawing the central areasof the annulus depthwise into the cup, so that there results, forexample, a soft yet substantially complete cushioning liner Within thebell, but more importantly, due to the initial diameter of the annulusand its stretching characteristic, there I2, there has been selectedremains extending axially of the mouth of the rigid bell I2, anextremely deep peripheral cushion for the element I2. The resultingstructure, upon application to the neck of the user, will according topressure of application, be at times deflected outwardly to an evenlarger diameter as may be desired, but upon merely a. gentle pressuretoward the neck of the user about the tracheal opening, it is now seenthat there is provided an element of high depthwise or axial resiliencemaking for extreme comfort.

It is greatly preferred by this applicant not to anchor or secure thetrachea connection in any way to the neck, as is sometimes advocated bydesigners of older forms of trachea connector. It will be observed thatwith the present device, the connector may be readily applied andremoved without eifort, and yet with the' result of providing aperfectly conforming1 readily adapting, substantially air-tight sealover the varyingly irregular neck areas about the tracheal opening.

It will now have appeared that the device as described fully attains theseveral objectives resulting in the present development, and that in allother ways it will meet the existing demand for a more comfortable andmore practical connection of this type.

The detail of description, referring as it does for instruction purposesto a single selected embodiment, is not to be understood in arestricting sense because of the many variants possible within the.scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A trachea connection for use with an artificial larynx instrument orthe like, for the purpose of establishing communication from a trachealopening to an air supply tube to the instrument, the connectionincluding a hollow body internally formed substantially of the contourof a frustrum of a sphere, an annulus of cushioning material projectingoutwardly of the inlet end of the connection to serve as a neck cushionabout the tracheal opening of the user, and securement means grippingthe inner margin of the annulus, and attached to an inner central areaof the hollow enlargement.

2. In a trachea connector, a trachea cup characterized by a deepinternal chamber, a cushioning element consisting of an annulus ofcellular rubber-like material, of at least the diameter of `theperipheral portion of the cup, and anchored to substantially the deepestend of the cup, the cushioning annulus projecting axially and toward theneck of the user substantially beyond the `margin of the cup.

3. A trachea connector consisting of a hard rubber fitting having adeeply cupped enlargement chambered to provide a bell-like structurearranged to be presented toward the tracheal opening, and of a diameterto surround said opening, an annulus of a cellular highly compressiblerubber-like material of a diameter eX- ceeding the largest diameter ofthe cupped enlargement, a tubular screw, a washer fitted over the screwbehind the head thereof, the screw extended through the opening of theannulus and having a threaded connection inwardly of the bell structurebeyond the deepest portion of the cup, the annulus being of a size suchthat. when the screw is threaded up, the annulus constitutes a deformedliner within the cup-like portion, and extends axially a substantialdistance beyond the outer margin of such portion to constitute acushioning and sealing element peripherally of the cupped enlargement.

OTTlIEl ROBERTS.

